Biochemistry and molecular cell biology of diabetic complications.

Department of Medicine, Diabetes Research and Training Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 10461, USA. brownlee@aecom.yu.edu

Abstract

Diabetes-specific microvascular disease is a leading cause of blindness, renal failure and nerve damage, and diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis leads to increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and limb amputation. Four main molecular mechanisms have been implicated in glucose-mediated vascular damage. All seem to reflect a single hyperglycaemia-induced process of overproduction of superoxide by the mitochondrial electron-transport chain. This integrating paradigm provides a new conceptual framework for future research and drug discovery.